Mandy laughed when Joel complained about her brownies. “Well, you can stand to put on some weight, so shut up”, she replied with a grin.

Once both Joel and Nicole had their brownies and had agreed that coffee would be a good addition, Mandy smiled and leaned forward to give Phil a kiss. “You behave, I’ll be right back”, she said to him before excusing herself.

Phil smiled when Nicole said Mandy would miss him if he hadn’t survived the madness. “Well, I hope so. I would hate to think she’d just forget all about me”, he replied to her words. “Especially when I didn’t mess up on her gift”.

Mandy laughed from the kitchen. “Well, you haven’t let me see it yet, so I wouldn’t be so sure about that!”, she replied from there while making the coffee to go with the brownies.

Joel joked to Mandy. Tonight was becoming a good night, he thought. It was helping him get his mind a little of what was happening with his grandfather. It was good to spend time with his girl, their friend, and make a new friend as well.

"Oh, shut up, Joel!", Mandy replied, laughing. "You don't need to make me jealous, especially this time of year. Holidays aren't even here and Phil and I are already putting on weight", she completed, coming back from the kitchen with a tray of coffee cups for everyone.

Picking up her own cup, Mandy sat by Phil.

Phil took a look at her and smiled. "Well, you guys will be my witnesses now that I'm alive and in good health, in case I have messed up and she decides to poison me", he said, making his best dramatic expression.

Mandy rolled her eyes. "Look, as long as it's not an ugly sweater with a reindeer, I'm game".

Phil made another faux-scared expression. "Oh, shit. But it's just your size, and you do like bright green, right?". Mandy started laughing. "Sure, it matches my eyes - doesn't it?", she asked, turning to her friends and trying not to laugh.

Mandy laughed when Joel told her not to hate him because he was beautiful. "Fine", she replied, still laughing.

Phil made a scared face when Joel said it would be a slow acting poison. "Damn, I was counting on her not being that smart. It seems she'll get away with it if she kills me". He sighed, before smiling and stealing a quick kiss from Mandy.

Mandy rolled her eyes when Joel said ugly Christmas sweaters were the best. "I'll remember that next year, when I have to pick your present", she replied to his words, shaking her head.

She smiled at Nicole's words about her family's contest. "Do friends count as possible participants?", she joked. "If mine's ugly enough, I might as well try to enter your family's contest".

When Nicole said she was so pretty she could rock the ugly sweater, Mandy rolled her eyes. "Come on, you guys. What the hell do you want? Joel is saying I'm super smart, you're saying I'm pretty... I'm not sharing the brownie recipe, knock it off", she joked.

Mandy laughed and ran into the kitchen to get the coffee for everyone, speaking from there. "You guys think you're so funny, don't you?", she joked, taking a moment to get the coffee in mugs and bring it back with sugar for those who liked it.

Placing the tray on the coffee table so everyone could reach it, Mandy sat by Phil's side, getting her own cup and adding some sugar to it. "I got the recipe out of some site, naturally. The lasagna is indeed my mom's recipe, though", she explained, taking a sip of the coffee and sighing happily.

Phil took another bite and stole a kiss from Mandy. "I think I need to meet your mom. Let's make it a dinner date", he joked, getting pinched for his trouble. Mandy rolled her eyes again and yawned. "Fine, you can come. The invitation is extended to anyone who wants to drop by", she added to her friends. "I know you guys will probably be busy, of course, but just putting this out there. Mi casa es su casa, and all that jazz", Mandy completed, picking up another brownie and nibbling on it.

"Hey", she finally poked Phil again. "Come on, I'm getting antsy here", Mandy complained. Phil grinned and rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine", he replied, placing his plate on the coffee table and reaching into one his pockets. After some fumbling, he took a small box and handed it to Mandy. Curious, she opened it to find a heart-shaped locket with their first picture as a couple inside.

"Son of a bitch", she murmured, tearing up a little. "I should have poisoned you", she whimpered, while letting her friends see the locket. "I'm not crying, there's something in my eye", Mandy stated, shaking her head.